PRESIDENT’S REPORT – 2015-2016

39th Annual Conference

Bonita Springs, FL

September 10-14, 2016

August 3, 2016

Dear ACCTA Colleagues,

Welcome to the 39th Annual ACCTA Conference in beautiful Bonita Springs on the Estero Bay!

We are thrilled that you have decided to join us! This year’s theme, Self Care as an Ethical

Practice, gives us the opportunity to reflect on our complex occupations with simultaneous roles

as clinicians, trainers, administrators and colleagues. We may also consider how to support our

trainees and peers in the context of evolving expectations of counseling center professionals, and

wonder together how to support ourselves and each other in our unique positions. I hope that this

report illuminates the many activities over the past year that align with that theme, as well as our

organizational goals. This report is divided into the following five sections:

Conference Highlights

2015-2016 Goals – Internal Business

2015-2016 Goals – External Business

ACCTA Committee and Activity Highlights

Conclusion

In my second and last year as President, it has never been clearer to me that ACCTA members

are the most dedicated and active of any volunteer professional association in the country. I

invite you to review the highlights and organizational goals in this document, and go to

Conference Reports for the full reports. First and foremost, I would like express my deep

gratitude and appreciation for members who have gone above and beyond in their role with

ACCTA over the past year.

I would like to especially thank our extremely dedicated Officers. Dr. Natasha Maynard-

Pemba, President-Elect, has immersed herself in all things ACCTA over the past year, and I am

thrilled for our organization that she will take the helm at close of this conference. Natasha has

brought clear and thoughtful perspectives to the Board throughout the year, and represented us

exceptionally as a liaison. It is evident that with her leadership, the organization’s future has

never been brighter.

Dr. Ellie Hakim, Secretary, has continued her exceptional work in her second term. She has

effectively lead projects such as liaison templates and position descriptions for all roles and tasks

that are now institutionalized, and it cannot be overstated as to how meaningful this is to the

long-standing organizational health of ACCTA. As a result, we have continuity in regard to all

ACCTA activities as we experience substantial organizational growth and more rapid turn-over

of membership. Ellie continues to be a voice within ACCTA leadership that synthesizes very

complex discussions in a manner that allows for thoughtful and helpful decisions to be made.

Dr. Terri Rhodes, Treasurer, has further supported ACCTA in refining the ways that revenues

and expenditures are managed to save members time and money. She has continued the ACCTA

tradition of exceptional financial management of the organization, and as a result, we are

stronger than we have ever been. Dr. Rhodes, in her role as long-standing Conference liaison,

has also been crucial to supporting the planning and executing of our wonderful conferences.

Drs. Hakim and Rhodes have written a Secretary’s (includes full committee and project reports)

and Treasurer’s Reports respectively, which can be found at Officers’ Reports.

Our current board has been remarkably energetic, effective and collaborative this year. Drs.

Cyndy Boyd, Anita-Yvonne Bryant, Brigid Cahill, Christina Carroll-Pavia, Carmen Cruz,

Frances Diaz, Karen Lese-Fowler, Tim Paquette, Diane Sobel, and Sterling Watson have

contributed to ACCTA more than can be described, on a range of internal and external issues

relevant to ACCTA. Many served as liaisons to other organizations and represented us

exceptionally well, and each made time during busy days to offer suggestions and ideas on

countless subjects. Their excellent work is outlined in detail in the 2015-2016 Board of

Directors, Committee and Activity Reports found on the ACCTA web page. Numerous other

members of ACCTA have also contributed significantly to the work of the organization through

our Standing Committees, additional liaison relationships, and by volunteering for specific tasks.

I know that our organization thrives, and our voice is clearly heard because of how active our

organization’s members are.

Speaking of which,…ACCTA connects with many other training councils and organizations

essential to Counseling Center Psychology. Below are all the meetings we attended and who

represented us. I want to give special thanks to our liaisons, who dedicated their time to represent

ACCTA so well. I especially want to express my and ACCTA’s gratitude to Dr. Mary Ann

Covey, who as continuing liaison to CCPTP and APA, has ensured that our relationships with

key partners has evolved, and helped ACCTA to further bring our voice to the national stage.

Her departure from ACCTA will be deeply felt by so many of us individually, as well as the

organization as a whole.

The complete list of liaisons for the 2015-2016 ACCTA year is below, and you are welcome to

review the Liaison Reports available on our website.

Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) – Dr. Bong Joo

Huang, Tempe, October 7-11, 2015.

Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors (AUCCCD) –

Dr. Natasha Maynard-Pemba, Salt Lake City: October 17-21, 2015.

Council of Chairs of Training Councils (Fall) – Dr. Matt Zimmerman, Washington,

DC: Oct 17, 2015

ELC Conference – Dr. Matt Zimmerman, Washington, DC: October 17-20, 2015.

Board of Educational Affairs – Dr. Matt Zimmerman, Washington, DC: October 30-31,

2015.

National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology (NCSPP) –

Dr. Matt Zimmerman, Atlanta, GA: January 20-22, 2016.

Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs (CCPTP) – Dr. Mary Ann

Covey, Ashville, NC: February 11-14, 2016.

Association of Psychology Training Clinics (APTC) – Dr. Frances Diaz, Seattle, WA:

March 3-5, 2016.

Council of Chairs of Training Councils/Board of Educational Affairs (Spring) –

Drs. Matt Zimmerman & Natasha Maynard-Pemba, Washington, DC: March 31-

April 2, 2016

Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) / Postdoctoral

Summit – Dr. Matt Zimmerman, New Orleans, May 26-29, 2016.

Board of Educational Affairs (BEA): Dr. Matt Zimmerman

Division 17: Counseling Psychology: Dr. Mary Ann Covey

Association for the Coordination of Counseling Center Clinical Services (ACCCCS)–

Dr. MaryJan Murphy, Orlando, FL: May 17-20, 2016.

Association for University and College Counseling Center Outreach (AUCCCO) – Dr.

Karen Taylor, Columbus, OH, June 8-10, 2016.

American Psychological Association (APA) Convention – Dr. Mary Ann Covey,

Denver, CO, August 4-7, 2016.

o Division 17/SCP Board & Business Meetings

o Counseling Psychology Specialty Council/Synarchy Meeting

o Commission on Accreditation

o Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs (CCPTP) Business

Meeting

o APAGS TD meet and greet

American Psychological Association (APA), APPIC Membership Meeting and liaison

lunch – Dr. Claytie Davis, III, Denver, CO, August 4-7, 2016.

National Register of Health Service Psychologists – (Monitoring Liaison) - Dr. Matt

Zimmerman

I would like to thank AMC Source’s Debbie Nolan, Greg Brooks and Rasheeda Walkes-

Wallerson, who have been incredible supports to ACCTA for our website, membership listserv

and conferences. We simply could not function as well as we do without their input, guidance

and support.

I also want to thank our conference hosts for this year, Drs. Laura Wright, Amber Lyda,

Kristen Davis-John, Alia Fons-Scheyd, Jocelyn Buhain, and Susan Recinella, with

assistance from our President-Elect, Dr. Natasha Maynard-Pemba, who is also part of our

Florida contingent. Our hosts are working behind the scenes to help membership enjoy the

uniqueness of Bonita Springs, and the surrounding Estero Bay area. They have also facilitated

conference logistics and contributed to an enjoyable and meaningful conference experience.

They are responsible for registration, excursions, and posting much of the useful information on

the conference webpages. I also want to point out that the hosts work closely with Dr. Terri

Rhodes, whose institutional knowledge of conference planning is unparalleled and simply

irreplaceable. Dr. Rhodes also works closely with Debbie Nolan, the ACCTA Board, and many

to enable a smoothly run conference.

Conference Highlights

This year’s theme, Self-Care as an Ethical Practice, was developed as a result discussions

regarding the increasingly challenging roles of Training Directors within Counseling Centers, the

multiple expectations of Training Directors, and the difficulties of committing to a self-care

value in the context of such challenges. Self-care, as a value to which we aspire for ourselves,

and hope to inspire in our trainees and colleagues, is now more challenging than ever within the

overall Student Affairs landscape. As psychologists, we are well aware of the need for self-care

as essential to sustainable careers and effective practice. It is my hope that as we talk with each

other about our efforts toward health sustaining self-assessment, ways to engage in self-care

amidst a challenging climate, and how to model self-care for trainees and colleagues, that we

will all come away feeling empowered and positive going forward in our roles.

There are several areas to highlight in regard to this year’s conference theme that represent us

“putting our money where our mouths are (literally and figuratively). First, we are thrilled to

have Dr. Melba Vasquez, Past-President of APA and prolific writer and speaker in the area of

self-care, give our Keynote Address entitled, “The Ethic of Self-Care: Enhancing Personal and

Professional Lives.” In addition, the program allows for connection through continued large and

small group culture sharing and two affinity group times. We have also planned for several self-

care opportunities for attendees, including a dedicated self-care room with a variety of options,

two fabulous excursion choices, a multitude of outdoor resort activities, and a Ferry to the

resort's private beach island. There will be many opportunities to commune with nature (Florida

style), through access to the resort boardwalk, the Sunset Eco-Tour as an excursion option,

optional dolphin tours, and sunset over the bay each and every night of the conference.

This year’s conference will have five unopposed CE programs that include the Keynote Address,

Diversity Scholars presentations, Passages, SCD sponsored program, and an APA sponsored

SoA Compliance program. The SCD program is entitled “What Happens When the Political

Becomes Personal? Social Justice and Training Issues.” There will also be three concurrent CE

meeting times and the Innovations Showcase, with exceptional programs from our fellow

ACCTA members.

We are also excited to once again have representatives from the Commission on Accreditation to

offer our members the training on the APA Self-Study on Wednesday after close of our

Conference. You can obtain direct information about those workshops at Accreditation Site

Visitor & Self-Study Workshops. You are welcome to go to 2016 Conference for full

information about the schedule, CE programs, activities, keynote, reports and more.

2015-2016 Goals – Internal Business

In response to input from the membership as well as Board discussion, the ACCTA Board

identified a number of internal goals for the 2015-16 year that are listed below:

1. Continue to organize all projects and positions into a guide that is more easily

transferable across years

ACCTA is an organization that is growing and changing more rapidly than ever.

Historically, information about projects and positions has been communicated through

Bylaws and P&P in some circumstances (Officer roles, Standing Committees, Elections

etc.), and more verbally in many other circumstances (Projects, Tasks, Board functions

etc.). Because of the increased pace of change in ACCTA, it has become important to

organizational health to have a bank of information for all positions, roles and projects, to

assure continuity of the many important functions in which we engage.

Position Descriptions have now been completed for nearly all roles, tasks and positions,

and each includes a general overview, the associated responsibilities, timeline,

suggestions/tips for the role/project, and needed resources. At the beginning of the 2015-

2016 ACCTA year, the Position Descriptions served as a basis to orient on-coming Board

members, and serve a continuity function as well as support the apprenticeship model that

has worked well over the years. Dr. Ellie Hakim as Secretary, continues to bank those

Position Descriptions and they can be made available for any member to review.

2. Provide robust accreditation support to members not yet accredited through our

Accreditation Workgroup, and informational support regarding the SoA and related

documents

Members continue to receive support regarding accreditation in several ways. ACCTA

leadership continued to provide clear and specific feedback as requested regarding the

SoA competencies, the Accreditation Operating Procedures (AOP), and the Implementing

Regulations (IR’s) that have been developed thus far. ACCTA further continued support

of members interested in self-study mentoring by pairing with members more experienced

with the processes. The Standing Committee on Training Resources updated accreditation

related materials on the website, including recent self-studies and site visit

communications. We will continue to update such materials as members complete self-

studies and site visits based on the Standards of Accreditation. At this year’s conference,

we will have an unopposed program on SoA Compliance, sponsored by the CoA, in

anticipation of required compliance by January of 2017. According to Cynthia Belar, past

Executive Director of the Board of Educational Affairs and Interim CEO of APA,

ACCTA remains the training council with the highest percentage of APA accredited

internship sites, and Annual Survey data gathered by our Standing Committee on Research

lead by Dr. Mollie Herman, indicates that several members are moving toward initial

accreditation in the next few years.

3. Further support for the Diversity initiatives within the organization.

ACCTA brings a fundamental commitment to the appreciation and support for diversity,

as well as a strongly held value of an inclusive and multicultural community for our

organization and our trainees. Congruent to those values, leadership has strengthened our

support for diversity initiatives by adding, in collaboration with SCD leadership, a second

Board liaison to the Standing Committee on Diversity (SCD) and a Board liaison

specifically to collaborate with the Chairs of the Diversity Scholars Mentorship Program.

We have also created conference space for an on-going unopposed SCD program,

additional time for large and small culture sharing meetings, and a second affinity group

time. Program chairs continue to request programs with diversity and multicultural foci.

The Board also began a conversation that is planned to continue, to discuss how ACCTA’s

commitment to diversity might continue to be strengthened or contemporized in the future.

4. Design, Plan and Implement the 2016 Conference: Self Care as an Ethical Practice

I am excited that we are offering our 39th Annual ACCTA Conference for our members in

Bonita Springs, Florida on Estero Bay. Feedback from last year’s conference survey was

wonderfully helpful and very positive, and as a result we are making modest adjustments

to the program and schedule (see above in Conference Highlights). The Board remains

strongly committed to focusing on inclusiveness and ways to maintain connectedness at

the conference. We will again have our First Time Attendee meeting in round-table format

with Board members participating. We are also continuing with meetings that were tried

for the first time last year with good feedback, including a second Affinity Group, having

both large and small groups for Culture Sharing, and an unopposed SCD sponsored

program.

2015-2016 Goals – External Business

1. Continue to attend to Internship Match issues through the Council of Chairs of

Training Councils / APA Board of Educational Affairs (BEA)

The Match continues to be an area of primary focus for training councils, and the

community of psychologists, despite a substantially improved match rate during this past

cycle. It remains unclear as to whether that improvement will be sustained. Discussions

also continue regarding the need for a solid national workforce analysis, and the training

community is enthusiastic about APA’s Center for Workforce Studies coming under the

auspices of the Board of Educational Affairs in the past year. The APA BEA remains

focused on developing sustainable internship sites, as does APPIC through their grant

program.

CCTC’s Internship Matrix workgroup has completed their project of pooling resources for

those interested in learning more about developing doctoral internships in psychology, and

member programs will begin to put links to the Internship Matrix on their website. The

Matrix includes detailed information about counseling center internships and ACCTA as a

primary resource for those interested in internship development. The Matrix also includes

the Internship Toolkit, a CCTC project in which ACCTA members were heavily involved,

as well as details and web links on internship development at VA’s, School Systems,

Community Mental Health Systems, Hospitals and several other site types.

Additionally, the Standardized Reference Form (SRF), developed by CCTC, was fully

utilized over the past internship selection cycle. Based on substantial feedback, the form is

going through a revision that will be used for the 2016 applicant review cycle.

2. Continue to support members and develop plans for additional support regarding

the Standards of Accreditation, revised Operating Procedures (AOP) and developing

Implementing Regulations (IR’s)

ACCTA continues to support members through the accreditation mentorship program and

resources regarding the revised Standards of Accreditation. Since compliance will be

required by all accredited doctoral, internship and post-doctoral programs by January of

2017, ACCTA is offering additional support through an unopposed conference program

on SoA compliance, and getting ready to post training resources once such documents are

deemed as benchmarks in the revised system.

ACCTA leadership remains heavily involved in providing feedback through each step of

the request process. Much of that feedback has been accepted, and communication

between CoA and ACCTA remains excellent and helpful to our membership and

consequently our trainees.

3. Attend to legislative efforts to apply the “Conscience Clause” to training in

psychology, and support members in Preparing Professional Psychologists to Serve a

Diverse Public.

ACCTA continues to attend carefully to “Conscience Clause” efforts that will diminish

our profession’s ability to serve a diverse public. We continue to support members in

preparing materials and engaging in processes that are protective of our trainees and the

diverse public that we serve. Those efforts include on-going dialogue within ACCTA, and

consultation with specialists on the forefront of this issue. Legislative efforts regarding the

“Conscience Clause” are likely to continue, so continued education and support from

ACCTA will continue as well.

4. Attend to FSLA that could impact doctoral internships in psychology.

Over the course of the past year, ACCTA was invested and part of the training

community’s dialogue regarding the possibly implications of FSLA regulation changes for

those engaged in “administrative, professional, computer & outside sales…” work. It is

clear that interns are classified differently at different institutions, and guidance from

human resources and/or student affairs administrators dealing with this issue for multiple

classifications has been helpful. ACCTA will continue, along with the training community

and APA’s Government Relations Office, to track the issue and be a part of the on-going

dialogue about best practices and solutions to challenges that arise as a result of the

updated regulation.

ACCTA Committee and Activity Highlights

The following areas, as well as many other important activities are described in more detail in

the full reports, available at Conference Reports.

Standing Committee on Diversity

The Standing Committee on Diversity (SCD) has played a significant role in the life of the

organization since its inception in the early 1990s. The SCD has been responsible for promoting

cultural diversity, multiculturalism, social justice, and advocacy issues within ACCTA and is

involved in several initiatives and activities during the year, including the Diversity Mentor

Scholars Program, sponsoring a CE program during Conference, Culture Sharing, Affinity

Groups, and the nomination of an SCD Slate for Board elections. The SCD established a

Steering Committee at the 2011 Conference and has successfully redefined its mission, focus,

and structure. Dr. Bong Joo Hwang is the current Chair of the SCD Steering Committee and is

in the unusual position of “flying solo” after Dr. Natacha Foo Kune, prior Co-Chair along with

Dr. Hwang accepted the Director position at U. Washington’s Counseling Center. Dr. Kune was

highly effective in the Co-Chair role, and Dr. Hwang has done an exceptional job with the

multitude of vital and complex tasks of the SCD. Along with Dr. Hwang, Drs. Eri Bentley,

Maribel Diaz, Kym Jordan-Simmons, Durriya Meer, Debra Crisp and Pam Epps have done

stellar work throughout the year in regard to ensure that diversity, inclusivity and social justice

remain at the core of our organization. This includes supporting members, engaging in

programming, and advising the Board on a range of issues including conference site selection

and all conference programming. Fuller information about the SCD’s many activities is available

at 2015-2016 Board of Directors, Committee and Activity Reports. It is with a heavy heart that

we experience the loss of SCD and ACCTA leaders, Dr. Pam Epps by way of her retirement

from Emory (and we wish her well in her new journey), and Dr. Debra Crisp, who leaves us

due to discontinuation of her program.

SCD Board Liaisons Drs. Frances Diaz and Carmen Cruz have played key roles in facilitating

communication between the Board and SCD Steering Committee and consequently supporting

essential SCD initiatives. The Steering Committee discussed a number of issues via e-mail

listserv and conference calls throughout the year, including potential Conference sites for 2017

and 2018, the unopposed SCD sponsored CE program at this year’s Conference, and the

structure of Culture Sharing based on member feedback. Drs. Diaz and Cruz have greatly

supported ease of communication between the Board and SCD, allowing for the values that SCD

brings to ACCTA to be fully expressed throughout the organization.

Diversity Mentorship Scholarship Program

Drs. Pei-Yi Lin and Mari Diaz, as Co-Chairs of this committee successfully coordinated the

application and review process for a very strong and talented group of scholarship candidates.

We look forward to welcoming Drs. Marshall Bewley of Texas Woman’s University and

Carlton Green of University of Maryland, College Park to the conference and learning from

their presentations.

Membership

Dr. Frances Diaz reported that ACCTA currently has 177 members. ACCTA welcomes nine

new member programs for the 2015-16 year. There were also 24 changes in leadership for

member programs. Members are encouraged to continue thinking about colleges and university

counseling centers that are from their geographic area and invite them to join our amazing

organization. ACCTA’s continued growth helps support new programs in internship

development.

Continuing Education Committee

This year’s Co-Chairs, Drs. Karen Lese-Fowler and Diane Sobel applied for and received

approval for ACCTA to continue as a CE provider through the APA Office of CE Sponsor

Approval (APA CESOAS). This process is highly detail oriented and time-consuming, and Drs.

Lese-Fowler and Sobel did an exceptional job, allowing our conference to remain a central place

for our members to acquire needed and helpful continuing education credits.

Following last year’s project lead by Drs. MaryJan Murphy and Karen Lese-Fowler of

changing the program sign-in and tracking process to an electronic format lead, member

feedback from the annual survey was markedly positive. As a result, the same process will be

followed and managed by this year’s Co-Chairs for the 2016 Conference.

Standing Committee on Research

The SCR, chaired by Dr. Mollie Herman, has had another very productive year! The committee

developed, conducted, summarized, and shared results from the 2015 ACCTA conference

evaluation and developed and conducted the 2016 ACCTA survey, which will be presented at

this year’s Conference.

Standing Committee on Bylaws

Dr. Karen Lese-Fowler has kept ACCTA steady this year as SCB Chair, by providing on-going

consultation about Bylaws and ACCTA Policies & Procedures, as well as discussions about

possible needed changes. The Standing Committee on Bylaws continues to assist ACCTA

Officers and Board Members as needed. No substantive changes are anticipated during this year.

Standing Committee on Training Resources

The SCTR has been highly active for the benefit of ACCTA membership over the past year,

under the Chair-ship of Dr. Jod Taywaditep. New training materials have been reviewed and

Dr. Kim Hays has lead a needs assessment of training resources along with several SCTR

members. As noted in the SCTR section of the Activity Reports, results of the needs assessment

will be discussed and shared at the SCTR breakfast meeting during this conference.

Standing Committee on Website Management

Drs. Tim Paquette and Carmen Cruz have continued to manage the reorganized website with

on-going content updates and resources. It was agreed that another review of content is

warranted in the continued process of remaining current and useful to members. This process

will commence as the new ACCTA year begins in early October.

Conference Planning Activities

Dr. Terri Rhodes was highly active in coordinating with many ACCTA members and AMC

Source in ensuring a wonderful conference this year. Feel free to review details of those

activities at Conference Reports, and consider helping out for future conference. It is a wonderful

way to “dip your toe” into the ACCTA waters and get more involved.

ACCTA Mentor Program

Drs. Tim Paquette and A-Y Bryant continue to facilitate an active and successful mentor

program that pairs mentors with newer members or those seeking support in particular areas

(curriculum development, accreditation). ACCTA is particularly focused on supporting members

with initial re-accreditations and compliance with the new Standards of Accreditation, and

members are encouraged to seek mentoring as needed.

Conclusion

ACCTA continues to be highly active in areas within and outside of the organization. We truly

are an organization that is effective for each other, and as advocates within the field. I am so

appreciative to the many members who have served on ACCTA committees or worked on

projects, to those who have engaged other organizations as liaisons, and to those who have

shared their opinions and views for the betterment of our trainees, colleagues and organization.

We remain an inclusive, effective and welcoming group. Our voice has never been stronger

regarding issues of national importance in training and education in psychology, due to our

history of exceptional leadership and high level of member activity.

I want to close my final President’s Report by sharing what an honor it has been to have the

organization’s support and trust. The experience of leading ACCTA has undoubtedly been the

highlight of my career, and I have grown more than I could have imagined. It has been a pleasure

to work with our extraordinarily active and thoughtful Boards. We truly are an organization that

that is vital to each other, our field, and the trainees that we serve.

Respectfully submitted by:

Matt Zimmerman, Psy.D., ABPP

ACCTA President